Cricket and Football are two of the extremely popular sports which are followed by the entire world. Fans throughout the world absolutely, love both the games. Football is so commercialized and so widely advertised that even prominent cricketers admire this sport and love to engage in watching football matches in their free time. And just like we all have our favourite team in cricket, cricketers also have their favourite football clubs and players, who they support. So let's see which football club is the favourite of our favourites. Here is the list of ten famous cricketers and their favourite football clubs, which they support wholeheartedly.
1. Virat Kohli
The Indian Skipper was once a huge Manchester United fan but later shifted his loyalties to Real Madrid when Cristiano Ronaldo shifted to Madrid. However, Ronaldo plays for the Serie A club Juventus now. Virat still supports Real Madrid but always follows updates related to Juventus. Virat also owns an ISL team, 'FC Goa', and has a good friendship with professional footballers like Thomas Müller and Harry Kane. He also shares an amicable bond, with the Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri.
2. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Before switching to Cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni played as a goalkeeper for his school football team. Captain Cool has always been an ardent football fan, and he absolutely adores and supports the game. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been seen praising Manchester United and hence it is quite comprehensible that our very own Mahi is an ardent fan of the Red Devils. He was also a Brand Ambassador of the EPL, and he says that he loves to watch football during his leisure time. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also a co-owner of ISL team Chennaiyin FC.
3. Rohit Sharma
Cricket's very own Hitman is also a huge Real Madrid fan and has been seen supporting and cheering for the team very often. Rohit Sharma stated that the major reason he supports Real Madrid is because of the iconic player Zinedine Zidane. He was Rohit's favourite footballer who formerly played for the team and is now the team’s manager. Real Madrid is the most successful football club in Europe with 13 UCL titles. Rohit Sharma is also the Indian Brand Ambassador of the Spanish Top Flight Football League La Liga Santander.
4. Kevin Pietersen
The South-Africa-born English Batsman is a die-hard fan of the English club Chelsea. He is often seen at the Stamford Bridge stadium enjoying Chelsea's game in Blue colours. He has openly shown his biased and support towards Chelsea and also claims to be friends with some of the stalwarts from this club like Ashley Cole, John Terry, and Frank Lampard.
5. Rahul Dravid
The Great Wall of India, Rahul Dravid is an ardent fan of The Gunners. Dravid being an Arsenal fan, developed a dislike for Manchester United as they were Arsenal's arch-rivals in the English Premier League. Dravid says that 'Anybody but United!' used to be his slogan.
6. Graeme Smith
The former South African Skipper has his loyalties towards the EPL club Liverpool. Graeme Smith, who grew up in a family full of Manchester United supporters, chose Liverpool, and his all-time favorite player was Kenny Dalglish. Graeme Smith visited the Liverpool home ground Anfield during their win over Manchester City and also had a conversation with the team members and the management.
7. Dale Steyn
Dale Steyn, known as the ‘Steyn Gun’ also is an avid fan of football. Dale Steyn is supposedly a huge fan of EPL club Chelsea and this was confirmed by the club in their social media handle. Gary Kirsten and Allan Donald had relayed the information that Dale was a die-hard fan of Chelsea team. Steyn has also been seen on many occasions at Stamford Bridge, cheering for his favorite team.
8. Andrew Flintoff
The English all-rounder is an ardent 'Citizen' and supports Manchester City in most of their home games. He was picked as a member of the jury for the Barclays ‘The Fan of India’ competition held in 2009 to search for the most passionate premier league fan in the country.
9. Gautam Gambhir
Unlike most Indian cricketers who root for Manchester United, Gautam Gambhir is one of the exceptions who root for Arsenal. Gambhir has visited the Emirates stadium on some occasions to cheer for 'The Gunners' and is very open about his choice of being an ardent Arsenal fan.
10. Chris Gayle
The 'Universe Boss' has his loyalties for the clubbed Devils. Like MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle is also an ardent Manchester United fan. Chris Gayle's first choice as a sport was football, but he later realized he is good at cricket, and thus chose Cricket to go ahead with. He is also seen wearing United's jersey very often, which shows his affection for the club.
